Help I Can't Sleep!!!!

[BrokenBladder]

Let me start off by telling you guys everything I'm doing to ensure a good nights sleep. My bedroom is quite, dark, and cool. I have tried taking a hot bath and dringing milk. I also have a script for Ambien CR, which I just started taking again last night, but imagine this I was still awake.:eek: It seems that sometime I do fall asleep but only for an hour or two and then I wake up with my achey body and forget it, I'm up for the night!! By the time I chase the soreness down and get my bladder to where it doesn't feel like it will "pop" then it's between 6am and 8am. Then I fall asleep again and start the whole cycle over again.
I have a wonderful team of doctor, but they're bafffled too. They have tried all kinds of other sleep medication and rearranging my meds, but still my body is doing its own thing. LOL!! That's a big issue with CP, our bodies seem to own us, mind and all!!*ack

Anyway I thought I would ask if any of you have found a way to outwit this problem, if you've ever had it. I'm just ready to take somebody's head off in my house and it might be the next person who even so much as looks at me!! LOL!! Please help!!

[spoiledbeth]

Sorry, I have no magic answer for this one. Right now I just catch some sleep when I can, because the pain keeps me from sleep so much that once I'm exhausted I sleep. I had a sleep study done years ago, and it showed I restless legs and snoring, but that was it. Now that I have the pain problems I do, and the dystonia as bad as I do, I need to have my neurologist order another one for me, to see if there is anything new we can try. I know a lot of people that take benedryl to help them sleep, but they wire me up so I can't do that.

Good luck, if you find any answers let me know!!

Beth in MO *butterfly

[Kathi49]

Lisa,

I am starting to experience this too. But I THINK it is because I have gone lower on the estrogen. Anyway, at least that is when it all began. Before that I was sleeping fine. My Neurologist once mentioned a sleep study test and I regret that I didn't take her up on it. Anyway, I try to grab naps when I can as well. And, I have to admit, I DO go to bed early. Maybe if I tried pushing past 9:30 and get to 11:00 or so, I might do better. ;) I wish you luck with this...in the past...hot baths always helped me along with reading. But with my neck the way it is...it is tough to read in bed. :eek: And, yes, let us know if and when you get answers.

[Mark N]

Lisa, sorry you are having such a problem because I understand what it can cause for your health issues. The only thing I can tell you is what my doctor explained to me. He said that my sleep pattern was established and the only way to control when I slept was to knock me out each night but as soon as I went off the strong med I would revert back to my sleep pattern. he said the best thing to do was to sleep when I could and not try to fit it into any certain time frame. As long as I was getting enough sleep to not worry about when it was happening.

What I hear from you is you are not getting enough sleep. I don't really have anything else I can offer other than the things you are already doing and to give the Ambien a couple more tries to see if you start to sleep after taking it. I hope you get some sleep or something that will help you sleep from the other posters soon.

[BrokenBladder]

Mark you're right and I'm sorry if I didn't convey that well enough. I'm not getting enough sleep so that I'm tired all of the time.
SpoiledBeth thanks for the Benedryl idea but that stuff keeps me up as well!!
Kathi I use to read alot, but I stopped because it seemed that I would wake up just to read. LOL!!
Thanks for the help and hopefully I can get this figured out soon!!

[GardeniaGirl]

Do you have a sense that the pain is keeping you awake or have you been able to sleep in the past with the pain levels you currently have?

I am wondering if the pain is keeping you up, are there stronger meds you could add on top or instead of ambien that would knock you out for at least 5-6 hours per night?

The other idea I have is do you push yourself to stay asleep and not nap all day so you become exhausted?

I used to participate on an internet forum with ******** insomniacs and some of them ultimately found that they could break the cycle with extreme discipline.

It went like this: they got up at the exact same time every morning, regardless of what time they fell asleep.

If they were in bed for more than 20 minutes without sleep, they got up and stayed up until feeling drowsy, then back in bed, and they would repeat this all night for nights on end until their body started sleeping for a few hours per night. Many of them went weeks without more than an hour or two of sleep per night until their body finally started getting re-programmed to sleep at night. (these were folks who had long exhausted any and all sleep meds and were basically forced to do something behaviorally).

I am not sure if those strategies are appropriate though for people with other serious health problems.

I understand the frustration about sleep problems -- its very distressing to not be able to sleep when we know how bad we need it.

I hope you will be able to get some sleep and figure out what can help you to do that.

[Mark N]

Lisa, I hope the Ambien is working tonight and you won't read this until tomorrow.

[BrokenBladder]

Thanks Mark!! Currently I'm still awake but I'm going to try and get to sleep soon. Now if I could only sleep for more thaan an houror so at a time.:(

[Sara1979]

Have you tried Melatonin? I have been using it recently with decent results. Neither forms of Ambien did anything to put me to sleep. I hope you get some rest soon.

[BrokenBladder]

Thanks Sara. No I haven't but I think I will call my doctor tomorrow and make sure it's okay to take with all of my meds,:)

[Mark N]

Lisa, you are getting sleepy very sleepy. Just focus on the watch swinging back and forth. Your eyelids can't stay open and you are having a hard time staying awake. You are getting sleepier and sleepier and won't awake until this evening.









Did it work or are you still awake?

[BrokenBladder]

LOL!! Nice try, but sorry I'm still awake. I am about to lay down again and see if the sleep fairy will visit me, at least for a while.:)

[debhun]

BB I know what you mean. I too have trouble sleeping. I get 2-3 hours then my pain in my back starts and I can't even turn over in bed. I try and lay there hopeing for a few more mins but never works. I am going to tell my PM the 30th of this month.
Hugs to you I hope you can get some sleep soon.
Deb